


Competition

by Star55



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: F/F, Genderswap, Girl Direction, The X Factor Era, girl!Liam - Freeform, girl!Niall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-28
Updated: 2014-09-28
Packaged: 2018-02-19 01:41:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2369765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Star55/pseuds/Star55
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There’s only so much strumming of the guitar and Niall’s stupidly contagious laughter that Liam can take before she mentally snaps. She has to share a room with this kid. This kid who absolutely does not seem to be taking this entire X Factor thing seriously. Niall <i>may</i> only be a month younger than Liam herself is but she acts a lot younger. Liam is in this competition to <i>win</i> it and some Irish girl isn’t going to ruin her chances. Not for anything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Competition

**Author's Note:**

  * For [phenomeniall (desiredeffect)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/desiredeffect/gifts).



> Written as a part of [Girl Direction Month.](http://star55.tumblr.com/post/96263456431)
> 
> For Rosey who wanted a boot camp X Factor era Niam. ily so very much a lot. ♥

There’s only so much strumming of the guitar and Niall’s stupidly contagious laughter that Liam can take before she mentally snaps. She has to share a room with this kid. This kid who absolutely does not seem to be taking this entire X Factor thing seriously. Niall _may_ only be a month younger than Liam herself is but she acts a lot younger. Liam is in this competition to _win_ it and some Irish girl isn’t going to ruin her chances. Not for anything.

Liam has been called a lot of things in her time. She, however, didn’t expect to be called a stick in the mud by the girl who is sharing a room with her during their time at boot camp. 

Niall had muttered it when she left just minutes before, her guitar in hand, probably to go sit somewhere and play and suddenly be swarmed by loads of people. Liam isn’t jealous. Of course not. Not because Niall so easily attracted people to her. Not because Niall made absolutely everyone around her laugh. Not because Niall is the light in every single room.

But exactly for every single one of those reasons as well.

Liam sighs. She sits down on her bed and puts her head in her hands. She isn’t a stick in the mud. She just really wants this. Niall is competition, really. In the end, if it’s between herself and Niall to be picked for the X Factor show, then Liam hopes that it’s her. She really does. She _wants_ this so badly. This is her second time around and she doesn’t know what she’s going to do if she gets kicked off again.

It takes a few minutes for Liam to gather up the courage to leave the room. She isn’t sure if Niall is the kind of girl to spread rumours about her or talk shit behind her back, so she can’t be too careful. 

She leaves her and Niall’s room to find that yes, Niall is surrounded by people, strumming her acoustic guitar and singing. Everyone is taking turns to sing and it makes Liam feel a little left out. She bites her bottom lip as she walks passed, no idea in mind where exactly she wants to go but the need to just _go_ someone is far too strong.

She wanders around aimlessly for a little while before turning around and going right back where she came from. 

“Liam! Come join us!” she hears Niall call as she passes again.

Liam hesitates but she nods. She sits down on the ground with the ever expanding group of people surrounding Niall. Niall plucks on her guitar strings and nods her head in Liam’s direction.

“Pick a song,” she says. 

“Umm,” Liam mumbles. “I don’t know.”

Niall gives her an odd look before she starts strumming her guitar randomly. “You look like a Miley girl,” she says. She plays the first few notes of Miley Cyrus’ “The Climb”. Somehow, Niall manages to get _everyone_ singing the song, despite the fact that there are a lot of people who probably don’t even care for that song. Liam likes it’s enough. It’s a catchy song and Liam finds herself singing along after the first chorus.

Niall grins at her and it makes Liam’s stomach tingle happily. They keep singing, everyone getting louder and louder but Liam keeps singing, her focus on Niall. After the guitar solo, Niall nods at Liam and she takes over, singing the next bit, getting all of the higher notes that Miley does in the song as well. Niall looks impressed with her when the song finishes and she sets the guitar down before slinging her arm across Liam’s shoulders, all traces of their earlier argument seemingly gone.

Liam doesn’t know how Niall manages to do it; how she manages to keep so upbeat and relaxed even though they’re faced with literally a room filled with competitors. She’s made loads of friends already and everyone seems genuinely happy to see her, even if it’s first thing on a morning and no one has had their coffee yet. More so, Liam is happy to see her, even if Niall doesn’t understand her at _all_.

As Liam climbs into bed later that night, she wonders how she could be more like Niall. She has worried about things her entire life. She isn’t quite sure how to stop. She sighs and pulls the covers over her body just as Niall wanders into the room, smiling brightly and laughing over something that someone has probably said to her.

“In bed already?” Niall asks, despite the obvious fact that Liam is actually _in_ bed already.

“Yes,” Liam replies. “I want to get up early tomorrow and go for a run.”

Niall snorts. “Mate,” she starts. “There’s this thing called sleeping in. You might want to try it.”

“No, thank you,” Liam replies.

Niall shakes her head, blonde tendrils of hair falling around her face. “I thought you had loosened up a little today. But obviously I was wrong.”

Liam sits up and stares at Niall. “What is _that_ supposed to mean?” she asks, frowning.

“It means,” Niall says as she undresses, facing Liam. Liam averts her gaze, blush creeping up on her cheeks. “It means that you looked like you were actually having fun for once and that you weren’t being so rigid all of the time.”

“I’m not rigid all of the time!” Liam protests, covering her eyes with one hand so she doesn’t have to see Niall’s perky little boobs as she takes her bra off.

Niall laughs. “You kind of are, Li,” she says. “Look, I get it, this is a competition and we’re all against each other but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun and make friends while you’re here. Life is far too short to be so serious all of the time.” 

Fingers tug at the hand covering Liam’s eyes and she glances up, seeing Niall in a too big band t-shirt that barely comes to the tops of her thighs. Liam briefly wonders if she’s wearing any underwear or not. Her throat goes dry at the thought.

“Budge over,” Niall says. Liam blinks at her and Niall nods, lifting the covers so she can climb under there too. “You’d think you’ve never shared a bed with someone before,” Niall huffs as she slips in. She gets comfortable and props herself up on her elbow, her hand holding up her head.

“I have with my sisters when I was younger but not since then,” Liam replies.

“What? You don’t have sleepovers with your friends and all climb into bed together to watch movies?” Niall asks.

Liam shakes her head. “Umm… No?”

“You don’t sound so sure about that, mate.”

“I don’t really have friends?” Liam admits, biting down on her lip. Niall is really warm beside her and she can feel the heat radiating off her, despite the fact that Liam is wearing full flannelette pyjamas. 

“Well, that’s sad,” Niall says. “Everyone needs friends.”

Liam shrugs. “I do alright on my own,” she replies. 

Niall rolls her eyes. “Maybe that’s why you’re such a stick in the mud then!”

“I’m not,” Liam protests weakly. 

“Right, well, I’m your friend now, there’s no getting rid of me!” Niall exclaims, poking Liam in the calf with her big toe. She beams down at Liam and nods once. “And friends share beds and clothes, but not toothbrushes, alright? That’s unhygienic.”

“Okay,” Liam nods. “What now?”

“Shit,” Niall breathes. “Do you really not have friends where you’re from?”

“I… well, I mean, there are a few girls I talk to,” Liam starts. “But I don’t think they considered me their friend. Not if they couldn’t be bothered to show up to my sixteenth birthday party.”

Niall falls completely silent. Liam thinks that it’s one of the only times since she’s been Niall’s room mate that she’s ever heard her be one hundred percent silent.

“What?” Liam asks, blinking up at Niall. She feels incredibly insecure with Niall staring at her like she is.

“That’s horrid,” Niall eventually says. “No one came at all?”

Liam shakes her head. “Nope.” It still hurts. It may have been only the year before but it still hurts. She’ll be seventeen soon, though, and she’s determined that this year is going to be better. She’ll win the X Factor and show _all_ of them. Every single last one of them. Liam Payne is worth more than their pettiness. 

“I’m going to hug you now,” Niall says softly before she wraps Liam in a full body hug. And it’s _definitely_ a full body hug. Her thighs somehow end up around Liam’s own, her arms holding Liam tightly to her chest, pulling her in as close as she physically can. 

It’s different. Liam hasn’t ever had a hug like this before. Not even from her first boyfriend last year. There wasn’t this kind of physicality between them, though, they never even kissed once while they were together. He was more of a convenience than anything else. Something to feel _normal_ in a place where normalcy was a necessity. 

“When are you seventeen?” Niall asks. Her lips are impossibly close to Liam’s ear and it sends shivers down her spine.

“Twenty-ninth of August,” she replies automatically.

“Alright,” Niall says. “I’m going to throw you a birthday party and _everyone_ is going to come. It’ll be great. You haven’t partied until you’ve experienced a Niall Horan party.”

“Okay,” Liam agrees. She doesn’t think anything of it. People say things all of the time that they don’t mean, she doesn’t expect Niall to follow through. None of them know where they’re going to be at the end of boot camp, let alone by the time Liam’s seventeenth birthday happens.

“Good,” Niall says. “Now, cuddle with me. You’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”

Liam makes a face but carefully opens her arms to Niall. Niall immediately squashes herself in against Liam, pushing against her until they’re almost one. It’s different, she thinks. It’s kind of nice as well.

Liam lies awake for a while, her mind whirring with thoughts. She stares up at the ceiling, trying to process the entire day. She didn’t know how she went from Niall calling her a stick in the mud and stomping out of their room to having the same girl curled against her in bed, sound asleep. Things like that just didn’t happen in real life, did they? Liam doesn’t understand Niall’s personality. Not one bit. She’s never met someone her age that didn’t hold a grudge for at least three weeks if someone annoyed them. But Niall had seemingly lost interest in the fact that they had had an argument and now they were apparently best friends. 

Niall confused Liam a lot.

“I can hear you thinking, you know.” 

Liam turns her head to look at Niall. Her hair is a little messy on one side where she’s been lying on the pillow and she’s staring down at Liam like she is the sole reason for her lack of sleep.

“Umm…” Liam starts. “Are you a mind reader?” she whispers. Years of reading comic books has prepared her for this, she thinks. She won’t freak out. She’ll be cool about this.

Niall laughs and shakes her head. “No, silly,” she replies. “I just know you’re awake and from the short while I’ve known you, I know that you’re overthinking things.”

Liam huffs indignantly. “Am not.” 

“Are too.”

“Am-” She’s cut off with Niall’s lips closing over her own. She stares wide-eyed at Niall for a few long moments after they part. “Umm… What was that?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t know what a kiss is?” Niall asks, her eyes widening ever so slightly. 

“No, of course I know what a kiss is,” Liam replies. “ _Why_ did you kiss me?”

Niall shrugs. “Mostly to shut you up,” she starts. “Partly because you’re cute when you’re flustered.”

Liam promptly blushes. “Okay.”

“Do you want to kiss again?” Niall asks.

Liam nods and Niall grins at her before kissing her again. She thinks it’s okay for a first kiss. Not that Liam has anyone to compare to, obviously. She isn’t even sure if this is just a thing for Niall or not, but she finds that she kind of doesn’t mind. Niall’s lips are soft against hers and her big toe is still pressing against Liam’s calf, digging in a little. 

She’s still worried about the outcome of boot camp but she guesses she’s allowed to get a little distracted by Niall, even if she is the competition.

**Author's Note:**

> Fic number 28 of mine for [Girl Direction Month.](http://star55.tumblr.com/post/96263456431)
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has participated so far, it means so very much a lot to me. You have no idea just how much. I love you all.
> 
> As always, you can find me here on my [tumblr](http://star55.tumblr.com) or here on my [twitter](https://twitter.com/Star_55), if you like. ♥


End file.
